National Gallery of Art

Yesterday we took our morning walk to the National Gallery of Art passing by a very loud fireworks safety display on the National Mall. We wanted to see the Cézanne Exhibit - and we did. But before we went for lunch in the cafeteria by the waterfall on the concourse level, we strolled around a few other galleries until we were visually overloaded! Probably for most people the French impressionist paintings are most loved (?) - or maybe I feel that way because I am drawn to them the most. Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir, Lautrec, Degas, Matisse, Pissarro, Bazille, Seurat, and many more we all on display. I recognized the Mary Cassatt as we passed through the American gallery. I’ve always liked watercolors and pastels, but never used oil paints. Now everything I do is hand painted digital art on my iPad. I was never really an art student per se - didn’t study it nor visit a lot of art galleries growing up. So when the new exhibits come to town it’s a good excuse to pay a visit. I particularly like to focus and zone in on parts of the scene rather than the whole to observe the detail and animation it represents. It’s nice to be able to just walk on over from our house. Washington DC is an interesting place to live, and this is one of the reasons. 

Tumblr Open Arts, Eat Sleep Draw, Artists onTumblr, ArtistsDrop.com

I keep stumbling over them. Every time I think I'm connecting to the right websites and social media, another one pops up. Since I started painting again about four years ago, it's sort of a hit and miss type of thing. I use my iPad to paint rather than water color, pastel or pen and ink. It's a lot neater, and it is just as difficult - or fun - depending on the project. Most of my work is commissions from all over the US, Canada, Australia, and Puerto Rico. About a month ago I started using Instagram and Tumblr to round out the already eight or so sites I'm already trying to keep up with. Every time I explore them more, I find new hash tags to add whenever something is posted, but also new sites within the sites to submit work to. One is called artistsdrop.com. The idea is to upload a work of art, people vote on it, then they post the winning entry on Instagram. Tumblr has several - #tumblropenarts, #eatsleepdraw, #artistsontumblr. And those are the ones I found. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to just use the hash tag or find the actual site. Some of the apps don't have the same ability as the actual website to upload items. Luckily I like all of this stuff, but it can be difficult to navigate through it all by myself! And as long as I have another real job, I can't pay as much attention to it as I would like. I often think about all the artsy people out there who didn't have these great ways to exhibit their work unless they knew someone or were discovered. At least everyone is sort of on the same playing field, and have a chance to share their work. I just wonder if anyone is looking at it!

Torpedo Factory Old Town Alexandria

Our dear friends and neighbors from Wisconsin are visiting for the weekend so it is always an opportunity to explore different places. Because it was raining we needed to think of something indoors. The Archives was on the list, but was outvoted in favor of The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. First we stopped for lunch in Old Town and then walked over to the river front to see what was up. We have been to the Torpedo Factory a few times since we moved here. But for some reason everything looked fresher, brighter, and more interesting. It's three floors of artisans representing all different genres. The view from the upper levels overlooking the river were picturesque and a lovely place to have an art studio! There's also an archeological museum of sorts that shows working digs in process.   An older woman was brushing artifacts taken from someplace near the Masonic Temple. When we left, the sun came out. A sign for good things to come.